Aeshna viridis in Denmark

A small Stratiotes-choked pond at Ølsted Nordstrand in Denmark provided a splendid spot for me to get familiar with a new dragonfly, the spectacular Aeshna viridis.

Back in southern Sweden viridis is a scarce species because the essential component of it's habitat (the aquatic plant water-soldier Stratiotes aloides) is also scarce. By comparison nearby Denmark has numerous Stratiotes sites and these hold viridis, seem a bit unfair really!

There must have been 40+ egg-laying females at the pond at Ølsted, flying short distances and then landing and backing down the Stratiotes to oviposit into the plant. viridis only egg-lays into this one plant species in our area.

You can see my photo of a flying male in a previous post.

Hawker hunter

 A quick trip to Denmark with the team secured a new dragonfly for me this week - the splendid Aeshna serrata. Males were patrolling frenetically over the Stratiotes-choked waterbody at Ølsted and the vegetation rustled with the wings of tens of ovipositing females. They may be local but they are numerous at the right location!

Next stop on our hawker odyssey was Han Vejle, a reedbed boardwalk on the edge a glorious reed-fringed lake on the Jammerbugten. A hot late afternoon here produced plenty of encounters with patrolling male Aeshna serrata but no sign of any females. I have only seen one serrata in Sweden so this was a great day as well.

A return trip at midday the following day produced a lot of Aeshna grandis but only a few serrata, perhaps they timeshare? We did see a female serrata briefly but no photos sadly.